Michigan Law Review

Standard Textualism - Michigan Law Review For as long as legal scholars have been writing about the rules-versus-standards distinction, textualism has been understood to produce characteristically rule-like law. This Article argues for the…

Does modern textualism constrain judicial discretion by producing clear, rule-like law? In “Standard Textualism,” @cardozolaw.bsky.social's James Macleod @jammacleod1.bsky.social argues that modern textualism often yields standard-like law, expanding judicial power.

READ: buff.ly/jSGRLO0

Conspiracy and Social Movements - Michigan Law Review Conspiracy prosecutions of social movements are on the rise. From anti-“Cop City” protesters in Atlanta to pro-Palestinian protesters in California, prosecutors are increasingly wielding conspiracy la...

Steffen Seitz argues that decentralized social movements are uniquely vulnerable to charges of conspiracy.

Read "Conspiracy and Social Movements" in Issue 4 of Volume 124 of the Michigan Law Review here: michiganlawreview.org/journal/cons...

Book Reviews - Michigan Law Review Thank you for your interest in writing a book review for the Michigan Law Review’s Annual Survey of Books! We are specifically seeking reviews for books published in 2025 and 2026, including forthcomi...

We are pleased to announce that our call for Book Review submissions for Volume 125 is now open! You can find submission guidelines here: michiganlawreview.org/book-reviews/. We look forward to reading your work!

Issue 4 Archives - Michigan Law Review

Issue 4 of Volume 124 is now live on the MLR website! Make sure to check out these wonderful pieces by Fellow Steffen Seitz of @uofdenver.bsky.social - Sturn College of Law and Professor James Macleod (@jammacleod1.bsky.social) of @cardozolaw.bsky.social. michiganlawreview.org/volume/vol12...

We are thrilled to announce our Volume 125 Editorial Board!

Crypto Kleptocracy - Michigan Law Review Many Americans are worrying about whether they will soon be living in a post-democracy autocracy. But in the meantime, they may already be living in a crypto-fueled kleptocracy. Less than one year int...

Is crypto enabling a new American kleptocracy? Professors Thomas and Zhang (@umichlaw.bsky.social) argue that crypto risks creating a modern kleptocracy where political power and private enrichment are indistinguishable. Read MLR Online's latest here: michiganlawreview.org/crypto-klept...

Ten Commandments Cases: Learning from Reformation Coercion - Michigan Law Review The Supreme Court’s recent embrace of “historical practices and understandings” in interpreting the Establishment Clause has emboldened states to challenge forty-five years of precedent prohibiting Te...

States are challenging 45 years of precedent by mandating Ten Commandments displays in public schools. Paul McGreal (@paulmcgreal.bsky.social) argues they're advancing a version of history that ignores crucial European precedents. Read MLR Online's latest here: michiganlawreview.org/ten-commandm...

Standalone Municipal Liability - Michigan Law Review Under Monell v. Department of Social Services, municipalities may not be held liable for constitutional violations attributable to an errant employee’s actions. Instead, Monell dictates that municipal...

Should a city be held liable for an unconstitutional policy if no single employee is found at fault? MLR Associate Editor Avery Comar explains how municipalities in two federal circuits evade accountability. Read more about Avery's proposed incremental reform: michiganlawreview.org/journal/stan...

Disability Rights on Probation and Parole - Michigan Law Review This Article addresses disability discrimination in community supervision programs, a large—but frequently overlooked—component of the criminal legal system and important contributor to America’s mass...

Are probation and parole setting people with disabilities up to fail? A new article by @nyulaw.bsky.social’s Alexis Karteron examines disability discrimination in community supervision programs and proposes a universal design approach. Read more here: michiganlawreview.org/journal/disa...

Presumption of Creditworthiness - Michigan Law Review Creditworthiness, or the likelihood that one will repay one’s debts, is typically signaled through a three-digit number known as a credit score. Yet, over thirty-two million adult-aged consumers lack ...

Millions without credit scores face a catch-22: you need credit to build credit, but can't get credit without a score. @georgetownlaw.bsky.social's Nakita Cuttino proposes a solution: eliminate "unscored" status by presuming creditworthiness. Read more here: michiganlawreview.org/journal/pres...

From Medical Exceptions to Reproductive Freedom - Michigan Law Review Since the Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, there has been a significant focus on pregnancy complications. This focus has created some risks. Highlighting medically indicated abortion stori...

Could pregnancy complications be the key to dismantling abortion bans? Read the new article by David S. Cohen (@dsc250.bsky.social) and Greer Donley (@greerdonley.bsky.social) for more information on their long-term strategy to dismantle abortion bans: michiganlawreview.org/journal/from...

Issue 3 of Volume 124 is now live on our website! Make sure to read these exceptional pieces by @dsc250.bsky.social, @greerdonley.bsky.social, Nakita Cuttino, Alexis Karteron, and Avery Comar at michiganlawreview.org/volume/vol12.... Stay tuned for highlights of each publication in the thread below!

The Victims’ Rights Mismatch - Michigan Law Review A puzzling mismatch lurks inside victims’ rights law. Victims’ rights are most easily justified when held by living victims, but the cultural movement has triumphed largely as a response to crime-caus...

Victims’ rights are often justified for living victims, yet the movement centers on crime-caused deaths. In “The Victims’ Rights Mismatch,” Professor Lee Kovarsky (@kovarsky.bsky.social) proposes a tiered rights regime for victims’ rights. Read the article here: michiganlawreview.org/journal/the-...

Third-Party Accommodations - Michigan Law Review Does disability rights law impose an obligation on employers, schools, and other places of public accommodation to control the behavior of coworkers, students, or other third parties to accommodate an...

Does disability law require others to change their behavior to accommodate disabled individuals? In “Third-Party Accommodations,” Professor Doron Dorfman (@dorfmandoron.bsky.social) explores this overlooked issue and proposes a new framework. Read more here: michiganlawreview.org/journal/thir...

Reforming Abolition - Michigan Law Review Abolition is an elusive concept, which allows people with various political views to identify with the idea. This Article unpacks some of the conceptual features that lead to its elusiveness. This imp...

Abolition’s ambiguity lets people with diverse views connect with the idea. In “Reforming Abolition,” Professor Daniel Fryer (@umichlaw.bsky.social) argues this flexibility serves its political mission. “It’s a call to reform abolition.” Read the article here: michiganlawreview.org/journal/refo...

Issue 2 of Volume 124 is now live on our website! Make sure to check out these insightful articles by Daniel Fryer, @dorfmandoron.bsky.social, and @kovarsky.bsky.social at michiganlawreview.org/archive/. Throughout the week, we will highlight each article in the thread below. Stay tuned for more!

The Federal General Counsel, Law, and Our Democracy at a Crossroads - Michigan Law Review This speech, given by the general counsel of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on January 7, 2025, examines how federal government lawyers can help ensure that laws are faithfully admini...

Former general counsel of the CFPB, Seth Frotman (@srf1802.bsky.social), examines how federal government lawyers can help ensure that laws are faithfully administered to address contemporary challenges. Read MLR Online's latest publication here: michiganlawreview.org/the-federal-...

What's Left of the New Deal State? - Michigan Law Review New Deal Law and Order: How the War on Crime Built the Modern Liberal State. By Anthony Gregory. Harvard University Press. 2024. Pp. 473. $45. Introduction A vast body of scholarship situates itself i...

Curious about America’s security state origins? MLR Online’s latest is a book review of Anthony Gregory’s New Deal Law and Order. Professor Dhaliwal (@sandeepinbk.bsky.social) explores how FDR’s “war on crime” shaped criminal justice and state power. Read here: michiganlawreview.org/whats-left-o...

Third-Party Accommodations, Doron Dorfman Abstract Does disability rights law impose an obligation on employers, schools, and other places of public accommodation to control the behavior of coworkers, students, or other third parties to accommodate an individual with disabilities? This Article examines that unexplored legal question and shows that the law frequently fails to protect people with disabilities from the choices and behaviors of third parties. Judges often consider these major barriers to access beyond the reach of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s reasonable accommodation mandate. This Article argues that this problem results from improperly imposing the privity paradigm, a doctrine that limits the inquiry about the reasonableness of an accommodation relative to the relationship between the first party (the disabled individual) and the second party (the employer or other entity covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act). Using disability studies, legal theory, and political economy analysis, this Article shows how a narrow interpretation of the reasonable accommodation mandate has failed to adapt to our modern understanding of disability as a complex interaction between the impairment and the social environment. To address the issue, this Article introduces a new theory of third-party accommodations, which would require others to alter or cease behaviors to accommodate an individual with disabilities. This Article then suggests a normative framework that courts can use to analyze cases involving requests for third-party accommodations, including the factors that judges should balance to determine the reasonableness of a request. In highlighting the need to move beyond a constricted interpretation of reasonable accommodation, this Article imagines a new horizon for disability justice.

I am just thrilled to have my new article Third-Party Accommodations officially out @michlawreview.bsky.social! The MLR editors were a pleasure to work with and sharing the same volume as @kovarsky.bsky.social & Daniel Fryer is the cherry on top. Read it: repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol124/i...

Citizen Shareholders: The State as a Fiduciary in International Investment Law - Michigan Law Review International investment law provides stability for investors, helps capital flow across the globe, and can be a critical tool for sustainable development. This regime, however, has become increasingl...

(4/4) A timely new note from our very own Eleanor Thompson argues that international investment law comes at the cost of state action to protect human rights. Eleanor proposes a solution drawing on the fiduciary theory of statehood. Check it out: michiganlawreview.org/journal/citi...

Good Cause for Goodness’ Sake: A New Approach to Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking - Michigan Law Review Notice and comment is a public participation process, first articulated in the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), that was heralded at the time as a critical innovation to engage the general populati...

(3/4) A powerful new note from our very own Hazel Rosenblum-Sellers examines how notice-and-comment rulemaking has become inequitable, inaccessible, and ineffective. Hazel proposes a practical (and statutory!) fix for agency engagement. Check it out: michiganlawreview.org/journal/good...

Tort Law in a World of Scarce Compensatory Resources - Michigan Law Review Large corporations facing extensive tort liabilities have often gone into bankruptcy, forcing tort plaintiffs to accept pennies on the dollar as compensation for their injuries. Bankruptcy painfully i...

(2/4) Bankruptcy isn’t just a practical hurdle for tort plaintiffs—it’s a historical and doctrinal force in tort law. A new article by @nyulaw.bsky.social’s Mark Geistfeld explains how the availability of compensation has shaped the basic structure of tort law: michiganlawreview.org/journal/tort...

Legal Insurance and Its Limits - Michigan Law Review Courts are buckling under the weight of a staggering access-to-justice crisis. In three-quarters of cases, at least one side lacks a lawyer, default judgments are on the rise, and most Americans with ...

(1/4) Courts are overwhelmed by an access-to-justice crisis, but is legal insurance the answer? A new article by @law.stanford.edu's @nora-engstrom.bsky.social uncovers the forgotten 1970s experiment—and why we may be repeating old mistakes. Check out Professor Engstrom's new article:

Issue 1 of Volume 124 is now live on our website! Make sure to check out these wonderful pieces by @nora-engstrom.bsky.social, Mark A. Geistfeld, Hazel Rosenblum-Sellers, and Eleanor L. Thompson at michiganlawreview.org/archive/. Stay tuned for highlights of each publication in the thread below!

@law.stanford.edu Professor & Rhode Center co-director Nora Freeman Engstrom has published a new article, "Legal Insurance and Its Limits" in @michlawreview.bsky.social. Check it out! repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol124/i.... #A2J #accesstojustice

The final issue of Volume 123, Issue 8, is now live on our website! Make sure to check out these engaging pieces by Rebecca Wexler, Fred O. Smith, Jr., and Edward Webre Plaut at michiganlawreview.org/archive/.

Crossing the Rubicon: Assembling a Litigation Colossus in Mass Torts - Michigan Law Review In 2021, Arizona created the alternative business structure (ABS), which allows nonattorneys to own a firm that provides legal services and actively participate in firm management. Scholars have argue...

Arizona’s Alternative Business Structure allows nonattorneys to own law firms. While many debate its effects on the attorney-client relationship, Professor Samir Parikh reveals a bigger concern: the rise of a vertically integrated “litigation colossus.” Check out Professor Parikh’s MLR Online piece:

The penultimate issue of Volume 123, Issue 7, is now live on our website! Make sure to check out these interesting pieces by Alvin Padilla-Babilonia, Nicholas Holmes, and Eric Walker at michiganlawreview.org/archive/.

So grateful to the (wonderful) editors at the @michlawreview.bsky.social for publishing my review of Robert Post’s “The Taft Court: Making Law for a Divided Nation.” 💙

michiganlawreview.org/journal/the-...

Always my favorite issue. Thanks to @michlawreview.bsky.social for remaining committed to publishing scholarly book reviews at a time when so many journals have stopped.